Questions about the process
CeleryStalker
Posts: 665 Member
Hey guys 
I wanted to give a quick intro/history, tell you where I am now, and ask where I need to go next!
Stats
38/Female
5'11
213#
44% BF
BMR, per Scooby site, using my body fat%- 1730
TDEE- 2379
Daily recommendation based on TDEE -20%- 1903
Dieting history:
210 seems to be my 'normal' adult weight. If I'm not actively trying to watch my weight, I default to about 210. Only once was I ever truly higher, in 2005 my dad passed away and I stress ate my way to 238#. I finally had enough and lost back down to 210 with proper diet and exercise (working out with personal trainer 2x/wk and mountain biking). Don't quite remember my calorie intake back then, don't think I was counting cals at the time, just 'eating better'.
Messed around with low carb via Atkins/South Beach without much success. Near the end of 2007, I was introduced to MediFast, where I learned how awesome cutting down to 800-1000 calories and under 100g/carbs per day could be. I lost 40# quickly, and kept it off for a couple years until medical issues and injury put me inactive and honestly, not giving a crap about my figure, falling back into the habit of stress eating. I slowly crept back up to 200 over the next year, then returned to MF and dropped 10# for my wedding, then returned to 'real food' and gained back, eventually making my way all the way back up to the 210 range.
I've spent the last 2 years struggling with weight loss. I've tried low carb/low cal, to no avail. I'd lose a few pounds initially, then stall out for weeks. At 1200 calories...... I finally got fed up to the point that I went back to MF a few months ago. Lost 8# the first week, then stalled for 3 weeks. At 800-1000 calories! There was even a month in there somewhere (about 4 months ago) that I was down to 500 calories a day and not losing. (Well, not losing weight, I'm sure I was losing muscle, and retaining fat....how awesome)
So, long history of eating WELL below TDEE, most recently the last 6 months have been anywhere from 500-1200 calories a day. Thyroid and blood sugar checked out fine after September physical/blood panel.
Currently-
For the last month, I've been eating at 1600 calories, 40/35/25, under the advice of my doctor who scorned me for eating so little, and my personal trainer/nutritionist. I knew going into it that there would be some initial weight gain. I kind of freaked out this week when the scale continued to climb, but I was much more active last week than normal in that I participated in a heavy lifting class Wednesday night, did a 10 mile hike with the kids Thursday, and walked (past pace, strenuous) 5+ miles a day every day aside from the day I did the hike. Water retention, I'm sure......now that I've dumped 4# in like 2 days, LOL But yesterday, I was bugging out and wondering when it would start to swing in the opposite direction.
I start a 3x/week heavy lifting regimen next week, along with 2x/week HIIT.
Future-
Now what? LOL Do I leave the calories between 1600-1800, do I slowly raise even higher, based on the TDEE info listed above? What happens after I reach my goal- do I raise to TDEE at that point?
FWIW, I don't really have a goal weight. I've been down as low as 182# and wearing a size 8. I was happy, but still had some belly blubber that needed to go. I figured 165 would be my ultimate goal, but that was with very little LBM. I now know better, and in conversation with my trainer, he feels I should aim for 25% body fat and 185#. I can't even fathom myself at 25% body fat, or looking lean and mean at 185, so I've decided to not stress about THOSE numbers and just commit to building muscle and burning fat until I'm happy with the results.
I wanted to give a quick intro/history, tell you where I am now, and ask where I need to go next!
Stats
38/Female
5'11
213#
44% BF
BMR, per Scooby site, using my body fat%- 1730
TDEE- 2379
Daily recommendation based on TDEE -20%- 1903
Dieting history:
210 seems to be my 'normal' adult weight. If I'm not actively trying to watch my weight, I default to about 210. Only once was I ever truly higher, in 2005 my dad passed away and I stress ate my way to 238#. I finally had enough and lost back down to 210 with proper diet and exercise (working out with personal trainer 2x/wk and mountain biking). Don't quite remember my calorie intake back then, don't think I was counting cals at the time, just 'eating better'.
Messed around with low carb via Atkins/South Beach without much success. Near the end of 2007, I was introduced to MediFast, where I learned how awesome cutting down to 800-1000 calories and under 100g/carbs per day could be. I lost 40# quickly, and kept it off for a couple years until medical issues and injury put me inactive and honestly, not giving a crap about my figure, falling back into the habit of stress eating. I slowly crept back up to 200 over the next year, then returned to MF and dropped 10# for my wedding, then returned to 'real food' and gained back, eventually making my way all the way back up to the 210 range.
I've spent the last 2 years struggling with weight loss. I've tried low carb/low cal, to no avail. I'd lose a few pounds initially, then stall out for weeks. At 1200 calories...... I finally got fed up to the point that I went back to MF a few months ago. Lost 8# the first week, then stalled for 3 weeks. At 800-1000 calories! There was even a month in there somewhere (about 4 months ago) that I was down to 500 calories a day and not losing. (Well, not losing weight, I'm sure I was losing muscle, and retaining fat....how awesome)
So, long history of eating WELL below TDEE, most recently the last 6 months have been anywhere from 500-1200 calories a day. Thyroid and blood sugar checked out fine after September physical/blood panel.
Currently-
For the last month, I've been eating at 1600 calories, 40/35/25, under the advice of my doctor who scorned me for eating so little, and my personal trainer/nutritionist. I knew going into it that there would be some initial weight gain. I kind of freaked out this week when the scale continued to climb, but I was much more active last week than normal in that I participated in a heavy lifting class Wednesday night, did a 10 mile hike with the kids Thursday, and walked (past pace, strenuous) 5+ miles a day every day aside from the day I did the hike. Water retention, I'm sure......now that I've dumped 4# in like 2 days, LOL But yesterday, I was bugging out and wondering when it would start to swing in the opposite direction.
I start a 3x/week heavy lifting regimen next week, along with 2x/week HIIT.
Future-
Now what? LOL Do I leave the calories between 1600-1800, do I slowly raise even higher, based on the TDEE info listed above? What happens after I reach my goal- do I raise to TDEE at that point?
FWIW, I don't really have a goal weight. I've been down as low as 182# and wearing a size 8. I was happy, but still had some belly blubber that needed to go. I figured 165 would be my ultimate goal, but that was with very little LBM. I now know better, and in conversation with my trainer, he feels I should aim for 25% body fat and 185#. I can't even fathom myself at 25% body fat, or looking lean and mean at 185, so I've decided to not stress about THOSE numbers and just commit to building muscle and burning fat until I'm happy with the results.
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Replies
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I'm not an expert but for what it's worth I believe that with your history of VLCD I'd say you're best to do a metabolism reset. Did you read that sticky?
Some folk will jump right in an increase calories to TDEE, others will increase gradually, say an extra 100 cals a day each week until they reach TDEE. Then it's a case of seeing where your weight stabilizes and how you 'feel' before cutting your calories down.
I'm sure more experienced folk will be along soon but that's the general idea.0 -
What I did was went straight from 1200 calories to 1600-1800, with increased activity. Are you saying it might be good to eat at maintenance for a while before cutting back to -20%? Would that be necessary after a month at 1600-1800? Blargh! So many questions! LOL0
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From all the reading I have done here, and how extremely low you went with calories, I'm pretty sure the group consensus will be that you should go all the way to maintenance level with your calories. Find your TDEE and then stay there for a LEAST 6 to 8 weeks.
Since you will be lifting heavy, this will help you put on some muscle to improve your LBM too. That's a huge plus! Revaluate how you feel after 8 weeks and then decide if you are ready to cut or not
Rhoda0 -
I'd take that increase in calories as you starting to inch your way up to TDEE and say keep going.
In your post on the 'scary boards' I think you mentioned you are using a BMF. Why not work up to those numbers. You have a pretty reliable gadget, I'd use that for your numbers.0 -
From my own experience, I was in a similar boat to you when I started on EM2WL a few weeks ago.
I had never been on an intentional 1200 calorie diet, but realised one day when I entered my food into MFP for the first time that I was only eating around 1200-1300 calories and had been doing so for a while. I was just eating lots of veggies etc so wasn't hungry but wasn't eating enough. I lost 30kg eating that way, but plateaued big time and couldn't shift anything more.
I then bumped my intake up and floated between 1500-1800 for a few months before I found EM2WL. I started my metabolism reset at 2,315 calories 2 and a half weeks ago and am LOVING eating so much food. The first week or two I just felt full aaaaalllllllll the time, and I'm still stunned with the amount of food that I 'should' be eating, but I'm really enjoying it. I'll be staying at TDEE for 8-10 weeks and will then see how I'm going with my weight, training, etc.
So as everyone else has already said, I'd say you should do a full reset at TDEE for a couple of months. It's daunting to think about gaining weight during that time (although I haven't yet gained anything) but it's only a short time in the grand scheme of things...0
